Even though overall demand for longs in the UAE remains subdued, prices of wire rod have risen noticeably compared to the beginning of September. Producers generally cite costlier billet and raw materials as the reason for the higher prices.
According to sources, Qatar Steel FZE has increased its local wire rod offers by at least $20/mt to $540/mt ex-works. The price is valid for spot deals and for October production. United Steel Company based in Fujairah is in the market since last week with $535/mt CPT for end-of-October production. The supplier, which has been non-operational for around six months, is currently working to restart operations. The launch has been preliminarily scheduled for October 15-20, SteelOrbis has learned. “We will not have large volumes to sell and we want to export,” a company representative said.
Emirates Steel Industries (ESI), the largest longs producer in the UAE, is not active in the market nowadays, having sold out most of its October volumes in the first half of September. The latest local offers from ESI were at $514/mt ex-works, up $34/mt compared to the previous announcement and the producer is now said to be fully booked. “The wire rod segment is still fine. However, almost everyone is depending on exports”, a trader said.
As regards exports, ESI has sold a total of 50,000 mt of wire rod for October and November production to various destinations and Saudi Arabia is considered to be one of them, hence the recent local price increase by Saudi Arabian producer Hadeed. As SteelOrbis reported earlier this week, the producer has raised its offers for October production by $26/mt compared to last month to $573/mt CPT. “A lot of buyers from Saudi have been asking for wire rod since Hadeed’s allocation is almost nonexistent. But for now we don’t quote,” a UAE-based supplier told SteelOrbis. It is worth mentioning that Egypt’s Ezz Steel is in the market with offers at $537/mt CFR Jeddah.
Prices exclude five percent VAT.